HEALTH INSURANCE
Health Insurance relates to a type of insurance that essentially covers your medical expenses. A health insurance policy like other policies is a contract between an insurer and an individual / group in which the insurer agrees to provide specified health insurance cover at a particular “premium” subject to terms and conditions specified in the policy.
Health Insurance in India can be broadly classified into the following types-
1. Individual Health Plans: Hospitalization plans reimburse the hospitalization and medical costs of an individual, subject to the sum insured. Thus, it take care of all medical contingencies and the policyholder need to pay a certain premium every year.
2. Family floater Plans: Family floater health insurance plans cover the complete family in a single health insurance plan. It works under the assumption that not all members of a particular family will suffer from any ailment or disease at one time. These plans cover hospital-related expenses which can be pre and post hospitalization. Most health insurance companies in India offering family insurance have a wide network of hospitals that help the insured people in times of an emergency.
3. Senior Citizens Plans: As the name suggests, senior citizen health insurance plans are for the older people of the family. This is sometimes also known as Parents Health Insurance Plan. These plans cover health problems related to old age. As per IRDAI guidelines, each insurer must provide cover up to age of 65 years.
4. Maternity Plans: Maternity health insurance plans provide coverage for pregnancy and other additional expenses. The policies take care of both pre and post-natal care, and delivery of baby i.e. normal or caesarean deliveries. Just like other health insurance plans, the maternity insurance providers usually have a wide range of network hospitals and also takes care of ambulance expenses.
5. Critical Illness Plans for Diabetes: These plans are benefit-based policies, where a lump sum benefit amount is paid on diagnosis of covered critical illness. The treatment cost is high when compared with day to day medical treatment costs. Similar plans are also there for other illnesses include heart attack, cancer, stroke etc.
Depending on the policy, following things are covered
1. Cashless facility: The insurance company issues an identity card to the Insured and on showing this card on the networked hospital, he/ she can avail cashless facility meaning insurance holder need not pay anything to the hospital. The Insurer would have a tie up on almost all the hospitals already to facilitate cashless facility.
2. Hospitalization cash benefits: Every day hospitalization expenses are covered to reduce the financial burden of the insurance holder. This would be great help to the insured as this amount would compensate the loss of earnings and other costs.
3. Pre and post hospitalization costs: Usually pre and post hospitalization expenses are covered up to 60 to 90 days and some insurance company even approve up to 140 days.
4. Ambulance charges: Even ambulance charges are covered by some insurance company and the insurance holder need not worry about those charges.
5. Health checks up: In case there is no Claim for certain number of years, some company even provides free health check up to the insured.
